June 2003

Index

• The Power of Blessing by Fr. Bob Camuso
• Sacramentum with Fr. Tom Suss - More About the Sunday Service - What You Think You Know About the Mass (but really don't!)
• Note from the Executive Director by Jeff Smith
• Recent Changes on the SacraMentors Board By Jeff Smith, Executive Director
• TRAIN THE TRAINERS SCHEDULED FOR THIS SUMMER By Bill Wiebe, Senior Trainer
• Witness Talks - Many Voices Make Light Work by Bruce Jaeger, Series Coordinator
• Paradox Fosters Contemplation at spring sacramentum By Jeff Virgin, St. James Cathedral
• 2nd Annual SacraMentors Leadership Retreat By Jeff Smith, Executive Director
• Stewardship Campaign - Thank You
  

The Power of Blessing by Fr. Bob Camuso

As SacraMentors we are called to be a blessing and to bless. We learn through the SacraMentors process that to bless is not just to call upon God as we say a prayer over someone, but we also bless others by keeping God in mind when we speak and think about someone. For instance, God wants us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. One of the ways we love others, as we want to be loved, is to speak well of another, even when that person has made a mistake.

In this regard, I came across a story that shows the power of speaking of the goodness of others. It's from author Jack Kornfield's book, The Art of Forgiveness, Loving Kindness and Peace:

In South Africa the Babemba tribe treats people who step out of line in a remarkable way. Instead of treating the person with judgment and punishment, the tribe treats the offender with love and appreciation.

If a member of the Babemba acts irresponsibly or unjustly, he or she is placed at the center of the village, alone. All work ceases, and the entire tribe gathers in a large circle around the violator. Then each person in the tribe, regardless of age, speaks to the accused, one at a time, recalling all the good things the person in the center of the circle has done in his or her lifetime.

Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy is recounted. All the individual's positive attributes, good deeds, strengths and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. No one is permitted to fabricate, exaggerate or be facetious about the accomplishments or the positive aspects of the person. This tribal ceremony often lasts for several days and does not end until everyone is drained of every positive comment he or she can state about the person in question.

At the end, the circle is broken and the person is symbolically and literally welcomed back into the tribe with joyful celebration.

What I find remarkable about this story is the love that is lavished upon a sinner. Instead of judgment, vengeance or shaming, the people of the tribe love offenders into right behavior by reminding them of their goodness.

Have you ever been told of your goodness so much that you noticed a change in you?

For parishes that have schools in our diocese, there's a tradition that each school have what is called "Pastor Appreciation Day." At St. Anne School, where I am pastor, each of our nine grades does something special for me on that day. Mostly they make cards and posters to thank me for being a priest. This year I received over 200 responses plus some golf balls (which I badly need!). Each response was positive and affirming. There was not one negative comment or criticism. As I went through all the cards and posters, I thought of the Babemba tribe and how they tell sinners about their goodness. And I thought of how motivating it is, how inspired I felt, to read of one's goodness instead of one's faults from so many people.

Sometimes it's not enough for us to know that we are good through our own positive self-talk or self-esteem. Sometimes we need others to tell us we are loved so that we might be more accepting of this truth.

I believe Jesus wants us to know of all the good we do and of how much God loves us with an unconditional and eternal love. If he didn't want us to know that, why would he give his life for us on a cross? Why would he die for us if he wanted us to beat up ourselves and others by constantly thinking or speaking of our mistakes or the mistakes of others? Jesus died so that our mistakes might be erased, forgotten—burned like old credit bills that have been marked, "Paid in full."

I can't think of a better way for any of us to bless one another than the way the Babemba tribe blesses those who make poor choices. As Lory Misel has said, "It is not a question of whether we bless others or not. The question is what do we bless them with?" I invite you to begin blessing the people in your life with affirmations and a recounting of their goodness. You may be surprised at the response you get.

Finally, I began to wonder if heaven is like being at the center of that circle in the middle of a Babemba village when all activity suddenly stops. I wonder if in heaven, God will place us at the center of a circle of angels and saints and our loved ones who have gone before us. Then we listen as all our positive attributes, good deeds, strengths and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with any detail and accuracy is recounted until everyone is drained of every positive comment he or she can state about us. And when this encounter ends, we notice that we have forgotten all the mistakes we ever made. The goodness we are emerges in its fullest and we find, as never before, how wonderful it is to exist in a state of absolute joy and peace.

Could there be a better way to enter eternity?

Could there be a better way to live each day while we are here on earth?

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Sacramentum with Fr. Tom Suss - More About the Sunday Service - What You Think You Know About the Mass (but really don't!)

August 19th · 7:00 to 9:00 pm
St. Charles Borromeo
Social Hall
7112 S. 12th St.
Tacoma, WA

Whether you're a cradle Catholic or a convert, please plan on joining us in the St. Charles Borromeo Social Hall on Tuesday, August 19th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm as Fr. Tom Suss leads us in an enlightening and thought-provoking examination of the Mass. After participating in this discussion, you will gain new insights into why we do what we do at Mass and a fresh appreciation for the power and beauty of our faith. This event is for everyone, not just SacraMentors, so bring your neighbors and friends to what is sure to be an inspiring and entertaining presentation.

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Note from the Executive Director by Jeff Smith

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It has now been one year since I began serving as Executive Director. During that time, the Holy Spirit as continued to use SacraMentors to draw men and women into a deeper relationship with God and more meaningful relationships with others. Here are some of the highlights from this past year as well as some details about what lies ahead.

SacraMentor Series. We called this our "Year of Rejuvenation," and as part of that effort, we held 13 series between September 2002 and June 2003, the most ever in a single year. Through those programs, the Holy Spirit brought 176 men and women into SacraMentors. We now have 44 Apostles Groups in 23 different parishes stretching from Vancouver, Washington, to Bellingham. This was possible only because of the prayers and hard work of so many, especially our training teams. Thanks and blessings to all of you who were involved in that effort. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are planning to hold 20 series in our Archdiocese between September 2003 and June 2004. If you would like your parish to host one of those series, please contact me (JeffSmith@SacraMentors.org or Sacramentored@attbi.com) so that we can include your parish in our plans.

Stewardship Campaign. For the first time, we held a Stewardship Campaign to raise funds to support our efforts to expand both within and outside our Archdiocese. We had a response rate of 13% with pledges totaling $17,579.00. A special thanks and blessing to all of you who responded to Fr. Bob's request that you make a financial commitment to SacraMentors. Thanks to your support, we are now in the process of hiring a part-time bookkeeper/secretary to help with the numerous administrative chores that must be performed. This campaign was the first of what will be an annual effort to have sufficient funding to bring SacraMentors to others. Does this mean SacraMentors is becoming "big business?" Not at all. We remain a parish-based organization committed to creating small faith communities that will help us live Christ-centered lives characterized by acts of kindness, appreciation, love, and forgiveness.

Summer 2003. We have several events planned for this summer _ a picnic on July 26th, Train the Trainers sessions on August 2nd and 9th, and a Sacramentum with Fr. Tom Suss on August 19th. Details concerning these events are in other sections of this newsletter and I encourage all of you to join us for these events. Speaking of summer, occasionally some people ask whether their Apostles Group should continue to meet during the summer. The board and I strongly encourage you to continue to meet, even though there may be some weeks where your attendance is down. Why? Our experience has been that groups that stop meeting over the summer often do not start back up in the fall. More importantly, we don't take the summer off from our efforts to grow spiritually and as we all know, our Apostles Groups are part of the process of deepening our faith and assisting us in our spiritual growth and development.

2nd Annual Leadership Retreat. We will be holding our Second Annual Leadership Retreat on September 20th at the Palisades Retreat Center. This event is open to everyone and will include reports from all of the board members and a period for reflection as we examine what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Those in a leadership position (parish coordinators and trainers) will receive a registration form later this summer. If you are not in a leadership position but would like to attend, please contact me.

As you can see, God has truly blessed us this past year. I look forward to continuing to serve all of you and I'm excited about the direction the Holy Spirit is leading us. If there is anything I can do for any of you, please let me know. I hope to see many of you at this summer's events.

God's blessings and peace be with each of you.

Your brother in Christ,
Jeff

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Mission Statement:

"To create in parishes small faith communities of men and of women committed to supporting each other in living a Christian life characterized by acts of love, kindness, appreciation, and forgiveness."

Recent Changes on the SacraMentors Board By Jeff Smith, Executive Director

Since the last newsletter, there have been two significant changes on the SacraMentors Board. First, due to professional and personal reasons, David Gedrose, our Spiritual Development Coordinator, resigned from the board effective 24 April 2003. This was a difficult decision for David to make and occurred after much prayerful thought and consideration on his part. Here is an excerpt from David's resignation letter:

"After much prayerful thought and consideration, I must regretfully resign as the Spiritual Development Coordinator. This is a result o f both professional and personal reasons. God has finally convinced me to pace myself a bit. I have enjoyed my time with the Board and will always hold you all in my prayers. I trust this early announcement will allow the Board some time for the discernment process in finding a successor."

All of us on the Board are sorry to see David leave and thank him for his service to SacraMentors. We look forward to see David at future SacraMentors gatherings.

With David's resignation, we now have a position on the Board to fill. We will spend part of the Leadership Retreat on September 20th using a discernment process to fill this position. If anyone is interested in filling the position until the retreat (and possibly longer!), please contact me at Sacramentored@attbi.com. This is an important position because we need to do more as an organization to facilitate the spiritual growth of our members. The Spiritual Development Coordinator has the role of helping to plan, organize, and present programs to challenge all of us in our spiritual development.

On a more positive note, I have the pleasure of informing you that we have a new board member. As many of you know, at last September's leadership retreat we re-organized the SacraMentors Board. As the Board began its work, it became apparent that we needed someone on the board dedicated to marketing and promoting SacraMentors. To fill that need, the Board created the position of Marketing and Communications Coordinator and Cyndie Ulrich agreed to fill that position.

Cyndie brings a wealth of experience to this new position. She has spent almost 10 years working in the area of media/public relations and she has served in a variety of positions in non-profit organizations. Cyndie also has an interesting personal connection to SacraMentors as her husband, Michael, is the individual who introduced Fr. Bob and Lory (and, as they say, the rest is history). The board and I look forward to working with Cyndie and using her marketing and public relations expertise to continue the rejuvenation of SacraMentors in our Archdiocese and our expansion outside Western Washington.

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TRAIN THE TRAINERS SCHEDULED FOR THIS SUMMER By Bill Wiebe, Senior Trainer

Wow, the training year has ended and it was a tremendous success. Now we begin preparing for training year 2003 - 2004, which begins in September.

Let me extend my thanks, loving thoughts and blessings to all of the SacraMentor trainers for their tireless efforts during the past year. You provided the training at 13 series (our busiest year ever!) and your efforts resulted in 176 men and women joining us as SacraMentor brothers and sisters. Thanks!

Our on-going efforts to rejuvenate SacraMentors in our Archdiocese and begin to expand to other dioceses means we need to grow and develop more training teams. Training teams are comprised of SacraMentors who may present pre-series witness talks at parishes, facilitate a SacraMentor series, present talks during the series, or help during the small group discussions that occur at various points during the series. Our long-term goal is to have at least one men's and one women's training team in each Deanery within our Archdiocese.

To move in this direction, we will be holding our next Train the Trainers program on August 2 and August 9, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, in the convent at St. Charles Borromeo. It is necessary to attend both sessions to become a trainer as a sequential program of instruction is presented. Those individuals unable to attend the second session will be afforded a make-up session to be held in the fall.

At the first session, new trainers and those desiring some refresher training will receive training on presentation techniques and receive from experienced trainers an overview of each talk. During the second session, the new trainers and those attending for a refresher will present a condensed version of one of the talks presented during a SacraMentor series.

Please know that training is excellent service work and that we have a great boss, Jesus.

If interested or desiring more information please call me at (360) 456-3264 or email me at W_Wiebe@msn.com

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Witness Talks - Many Voices Make Light Work by Bruce Jaeger, Series Coordinator

"You shall be my witnesses . . .." Acts 1:8

What made you decide to attend a SacraMentor series? I remember sitting at Mass at Holy Family in Kirkland about five and a half years ago, when Carl Jones spoke to the congregation about the SacraMentor series that was coming to our parish. When he spoke, I knew that this was something that was important for me to attend. I wasn't wrong! The series helped in changing my life for the better. Many of you have had similar experiences involving men and women who have given witness talks at your parish.

The Holy Spirit has been moving quickly this year. Thirteen series were held between September and June and plans are being made for twenty series to be held during the next school year (September '03 to June '04). If the average parish has three or four Masses, and we also speak at neighboring parishes, well over one hundred witness talks will be given at Masses next year. As we are still exclusively a group of volunteers, most of whom have other full-time obligations, we could use many more brothers and sisters to be of service in this area, whether you can give many witness talks or a few. Remember, many voices make light work!

What is involved in giving a witness talk? You would speak to the parish for about two or three minutes near the end of Mass, briefly explaining the SacraMentors program and your experiences with it. After Mass, you would be available to answer questions and to register people for the series. Whenever possible, we have another SacraMentor at the registration table to help answer questions and to register people. Training will be provided prior to you giving your first talk.

How important is the witness talk in the promotion of a SacraMentor series? It is very important. At every series we have men and women explain that they are attending the series because of the witness talk they heard at Mass. This is truly an opportunity for someone to hear first-hand about SacraMentors and the positive impact it has had on your life.

I want to sincerely thank all the men and women who gave witness talks and helped register people for series this past year, especially Jeff and Denise Smith and Mary Anne Reynolds. They did more than their fair share and made my job much easier.

I ask for your prayerful consideration of this ministry. If you feel the call, please contact me at (425) 821-7637 (before 8:00 p.m.) or e-mail me at brujaeger@aol.com

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My Lord God,
I have no idea where 1 am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself
and the fact that I think I am
following your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please
you does in fact please you, and I hope
that I desire you in all that I am doing.

I hope that I never do anything
apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always.
Though I may seem to be lost and in
the shadow o f death I will not fear,
for you are ever with me and
you will never leave me to face
my peril alone.

Thomas Merton

Paradox Fosters Contemplation at spring sacramentum By Jeff Virgin, St. James Cathedral

A gathering of SacraMentor brothers and sisters for spiritual discussion and contemplation was held on Sunday afternoon, April 6, at Sacred Heart parish in Lacey. The Spring Sacramentum was attended by approximately 25 SacraMentors from several parishes in the Tacoma, Seattle, and Bellevue areas. The three-hour program was formulated by David Gedrose, and included a discussion of Thomas Merton's book "New Seeds of Contemplation," a period of reflection on the Beatitudes (Mathew 5:3-12), and socializing. It was a delightful opportunity to meet SacraMentors from other parishes, and a spiritually rewarding experience.

In both Merton's book and in the Beatitudes, paradoxes induce contemplation, which, according to Merton, "is the highest expression of man's intellectual and spiritual life." Merton teaches what contemplation is (God discovering Himself in us), and what it is not (cutting oneself off from the world). He teaches us how to pray for our own discovery and become unified with God through love. He emphasizes that the chief obstacle to knowing God's love is our attachment to ourselves ("the tenacious need to maintain our separate, external, egotistical self"). Merton counsels us that "I must learn to leave myself in order to find myself by yielding to the love of God." Perfect contemplation is giving up the self, "the perfection of all humility and the renunciation of all pride." This does not mean renouncing or ignoring the "things" of the world, for all things are the creation of God. Rather, "the more I become identified with God, the more will I be identified with all the others who are identified with Him." Perhaps like those who attended the Sacramentum, you can see the common themes between the teachings of Merton and the SacraMentors program.

In the paradox of the incarnation, Merton finds in the divine and human mystery of Christ the necessary spark that flames God in our souls. "God is everywhere. His truth and His love pervade all things as the light and the heat of the sun pervade our atmosphere. But just as the rays of the sun do not set fire to anything by themselves, so God does not touch our souls with the fire of supernatural knowledge and experience without Christ." Through Christ, each of us expresses our uniqueness. "My true personality will be fulfilled in the Mystical Christ in this one way above all, that through me, Christ and His Spirit will be able to love you and all men and God the Father in a way that would be possible in no one else." If we do not fulfill our personalities in the love of God, then the world has been deprived of a unique blessing.

For Merton, contemplation becomes what it is really meant to be when it is God identifying our life with His own life, where nothing is left of our life but "God living in God." How do we achieve this? According to Merton, it is as simple as seeking "the true fulfillment of the First Commandment, loving God with our whole heart and our whole mind and all our strength."

After the discussion of Merton's book, we each chose a Beatitude and reflected upon it in solitude, and then returned for a brief discussion. The Beatitudes represent what living a Christian life means. Jesus uses paradox to show us that God's love can only be known through leading a simple life of charity and good will. He teaches us that this simple act of loving one another is to inherit the Kingdom of God.

During a break in the middle, and at the end of the afternoon, we enjoyed good food brought by the participants, and got to know one another. At the end of the day, we had all gained a new source of spiritual strength and joy from the discussion, and we found a new set of SacraMentor brothers and sisters with whom we shared spiritual fellowship. By adding more faces and personalities to a network of fellowship, we deepened our feelings of love and security.

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2nd Annual SacraMentors Leadership Retreat By Jeff Smith, Executive Director

Mark September 20th on your calendar. That is when we will be gathering for the 2nd Annual SacraMentors Leadership Retreat. This year's retreat will be held at the Palisades Retreat Center in Federal Way from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Although billed as a leadership retreat for all parish coordinators and trainers, everyone is welcome (and encouraged) to attend.

• This year's retreat will include:
• Reports from each of the SacraMentors board members on their respective areas;
• A discernment process to select a new Spiritual Development Coordinator;
• A time for reflection and spiritual growth as we discuss what it means to be a disciple of Christ;
• An opportunity to let the Board know how we can be of greater service to each of you and your Apostles Groups;
• Fellowship throughout the day and Mass at the end of the day.

Additional information and registration forms for the retreat will be provided later this summer. For more information, or to register now, please call me at (360) 754-7693 or email me at sacramentored@comcast.net.

Hope to see you on September 20th!

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Stewardship Campaign - Thank You

A special thanks to the following brothers and sisters who have responded to our Stewardship Campaign:

God bless each of you for your willingness to share with others the treasures God has bestowed on each of you. For those who have not yet responded, it's not too late to make a pledge.

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